Kenneth E Hagin New Thresholds of Faith

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New

Thresholds

of Faith

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Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations in this volume are from the King James Version of the Bible.

Second Edition Sixth Printing 1990

ISBN 0-89276-070-2

In the U.S. write: In Canada write:

Kenneth Hagin Ministries Kenneth Hagin Ministries

P.O. Box 50126 P.O. Box 335

Tulsa, OK 74150-0126 Islington (Toronto), Ontario

Canada, M9A 4X3

The Faith Shield is a trademark of RHEMA Bible Church, AKA Kenneth Hagin Ministries, Inc., registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and therefore may not be duplicated.

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BOOKS BY KENNETH E. HAGIN *Redeemed From Poverty, Sickness and Spiritual Death *What Faith Is

*Seuen Vital Steps To Receiving the Holy Spirit *Right and Wrong Thinking

Prayer Secrets

*Authority of the Believer (foreign only) *How To Turn Your Faith Loose

The Key to Scriptural Healing Praying To Get Results

The Present-Day Ministry of Jesus Christ The Gift of Prophecy

Healing Belongs to Us The Real Faith *The Interceding Christian

How You Can Know the Will of God Man on Three Dimensions

The Human Spirit

Turning Hopeless Situations Around Casting Your Cares Upon the Lord Seven Steps for Judging Prophecy Faith Food for Autumn

Faith Food for Winter Faith Food for Spring Faith Food for Summer *The New Birth *Why Tongues? *In Him

*God's Medicine *You Can Have What You Say

How To Write Your Own Ticket With God *Don't Blame God 'Words

Plead Your Case *How To Keep Your Healing

Laying on of Hands A Better Covenant

Having Faith in Your Faith

Five Hindrances to Growth in Grace Why Do People Fall Under the Power? The Bible Way To Receive the Holy Spirit Godliness Is Profitable

I Went to Hell Three Big Words Obedience in Finances

His Name Shall Be Called Wonderful

Paul's Revelation: The Gospel of Reconciliation How To Walk in Love

The Precious Blood of Jesus Love Never Fails

How God Taught Me About Prosperity Learning To Forget

The Coming Restoration The Gifts and Calling of God Signs of the Times

Learning To Flow With the Spirit of God The Glory of God

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Hear and Be Healed

Knowing What Belongs to Us *New Thresholds of Faith *Prevailing Prayer to Peace *Concerning Spiritual Gifts

Bible Faith Study Course Bible Prayer Study Course The Holy Spirit and His Gifts *The Ministry Gifts (Study Guide)

Seven Things You Should Know About Divine Healing El Shaddai

Zoe: The God-Kind of Life A Commonsense Guide to Fasting Must Christians Suffer?

The Woman Question The Believer's Authority Ministering to Your Family

What To Do When Faith Seems Weak and Victory Lost Growing Up, Spiritually

Bodily Healing and the Atonement Exceedingly Growing Faith Understanding the Anointing I Believe in Visions

Understanding How To Fight the Good Fight of Faith The Art of Intercession

Plans, Purposes, and Pursuits

How You Can Be Led by the Spirit of God A Fresh Anointing

BOOKS BY KENNETH HAGIN JR. *Man's Impossibility — God's Possibility

Because of Jesus

The Key to the Supernatural *Faith Worketh by Love

Blueprint for Building Strong Faith *Seven Hindrances to Healing *The Past Tense of God's Word

How To Make the Dream God Gave You Come True Faith Takes Back What the Devil's Stolen

"The Prison Door Is Open — What Are You Still Doing Inside?" Itching Ears

Where Do We Go From Here? How To Be a Success in Life Get Acquainted With God Showdown With the Devil

Unforgiveness

The Answer for Oppression Is Your Miracle Passing You By? Commanding Power

The Life of Obedience

Ministering to the Brokenhearted God's Irresistible Word

Healing: Forever Settled

Don't Quit! Your Faith Will See You Through The Untapped Power in Praise

*These titles are also available in Spanish. Information about other foreign translations of several of the above titles (i.e., Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Indonesian, Polish,

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Lesson 1

How Do We Get Faith?

Bible Texts: Romans 10:8-10,13,14,17; Acts 11:13,14; 14:7-10; 8:5-8 Central Truth: God has provided the way whereby everyone can have

faith.

We read in Hebrews 11:6, "But

without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."

If God demands we have faith when it is impossible for us to have faith, we have a right to challenge His justice. But if He places within our hands the means whereby faith can be produced, then the responsibility rests with us whether or not we have faith.

God has told us without faith it is impossible to please Him. But He also has told us how to get faith. If we don't have faith, it is not God's fault. To blame God for our lack of faith is nothing but ignorance. God has provided the way whereby everyone can have faith.

Faith for Salvation

The Apostle Paul said we are saved by faith. "For by grace are ye saved

through faith; and that not of your-selves: it is the gift of God" (Eph. 2:8).

But how do you get faith to be saved? ROMANS 10:8-10,13,14,17

8But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9That if thou shalt confess with thy

mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confes-sion is made unto salvation....

13For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

14How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?...

17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

After studying the passage of Scripture quoted above, what three steps does man take to receive salva-tion? (1. Confess 2. Believe 3. Accept.) To whom is this salvation available, according to verse 13? (Whosoever.) According to verse 17, where does faith come from? (By hearing the Word of God.)

ACTS 11:13,14

13And he shewed us how he [Cornelius] had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter; 14Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved.

God instructed Cornelius to send for Peter in order to learn the plan of

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salvation. In the Great Commission, recorded in Mark 16:15-18, Jesus told His disciples, "Go ye into all the world,

and preach the gospel to every creature

..." Cornelius had not yet heard this glorious Gospel. He was not saved. God told Cornelius to send for Peter in order to learn the plan of salvation.

Why did Cornelius have to send for Peter? Why couldn't the angel have explained the plan of salvation to Cor-nelius just as well? (Angels cannot preach the Gospel. God has given this task to man.)

The verse "Who shall tell thee

words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved" shows us that men are

saved by hearing words! The reason for this is because "faith cometh by

hearing, and hearing by the word of

God" (Rom. 10:17).

Faith for Healing

ACTS 14:7-10

7And there they [Paul and Barnabas] preached the gospel.

8And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother's womb, who never had walked: 9The same heard Paul speak: who sted-fastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed,

10Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked.

A casual reader of the Word once said concerning this passage of Scrip-ture, "Isn't it wonderful how Paul healed that man?" However, Paul did not heal the man. The man was not healed because Paul was an apostle.

He was not healed through Paul's faith. The man himself had the faith. Paul did three things:

1.He preached the Gospel (v. 7). 2.He perceived that the man had faith to be healed (v. 9).

3.He told the man to stand up and walk (v. 10).

The man did three things: 1.He heard Paul preach (v. 9). 2.He had faith to be healed (v. 9). 3.He leaped and walked (v. 10). The man was not healed by some power Paul had. The man himself had faith to be healed.

Where did the man get the faith to be healed? By hearing Paul speak. What did Paul speak? He preached the

Gospel. Paul preached a Gospel of

salvation and healing: "For I am not

ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek" (Rom.

1:16).

A footnote in the Scofield Bible referring to this verse says, "The Greek and Hebrew words for salvation imply the ideas of deliverance, safety, preservation, healing, and soundness." Therefore, Paul was saying, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. It is the power of God unto deliverance, safety, preservation, healing, and soundness." Paul preached the full Gospel; not just part of it.

ACTS 8:5-8

5Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. 6And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake,

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hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.

7For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed. 8And there was great joy in that city.

The great miracles recorded in the above verses came about as the result of Philip's preaching Christ. The New Testament knows no Christ without Christ the Healer. Physical healing is part of the Gospel. If there is no Gospel of healing today, then neither is there a Gospel of salvation.

Faith in Action

P. C. Nelson, who was for many years a noted Baptist minister, said, "Healing is part and parcel of the Gospel." While pastoring a church in Detroit, Michigan, in 1921, he was struck by an automobile. The doctors said his left leg probably would have to be amputated. Even if they didn't have to take it off, it would be stiff.

As he lay in bed, the verses of Scripture in James 5:14,15 came to him: "7s any sick among you? let him

call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him."

Dr. Nelson tried to excuse himself to the Lord by saying that they didn't practice this in his church. The Lord reminded him that he had four

Spirit-filled friends who believed in it, and He told Dr. Nelson to call them to come and pray for him. They came to his home, anointed him with oil, and prayed the prayer of faith for him. He was healed. His leg didn't have to be removed, and it was never stiff.

"Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

Many years ago, as a young Bap-tist boy, I lay on the bed of sickness. As I read Grandma Drake's "Metho-dist" Bible, I realized that I had never heard the full Gospel, just part of it. The more I read, the more I saw that I didn't have to die. The more I studied the Bible, the more I realized I could be healed!

The devil was right there, of course, bringing to my remembrance all the doubt and unbelief I had ever heard. He told me that healing had been done away with. (Fortunately, I couldn't remember ever hearing that faith had been done away with.) I also had to struggle with the teaching that God would heal if He wanted to. (This, however, was an even bigger insult to God than saying that He couldn't.)

I read in Mark 5:34 where Jesus spoke to the woman with the issue of blood, saying, "Daughter, thy faith

hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague. " Jesus didn't

say His power had made her whole; He

said, "Daughter THY FAITH hath

made thee whole..." When I saw this,

I knew then that if her faith had made her whole, my faith could make me whole. And, thank God, it did.

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heart condition became normal, and Memory Text:

I've been going at a hop, skip, and "So then faith cometh by hearing, and

jump ever since, preaching the Gospel hearing by the word of God" (Rom. in its fullness for more than 50 years. 10:17).

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Lesson 2

What Is Faith?

Bible Texts: Hebrews 11:1; Mark 11:23,24; John 20:24-29;

Romans 4:17-21

Central Truth: Faith is grasping the unrealities of hope and bringing

them into the realm of reality. A key verse in the study of faith is

the familiar one found in Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is the substance of

things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen," Moffatt's translation

of this verse reads, "Now faith means that we are confident of what we hope for, convinced of what we do not see."

Another translation says, ''Faith is giving substance to things hoped for." Still another translation reads, "Faith is the warranty deed, the thing for which we have finally hoped is at last ours." Here God is telling us what faith is.

There are a number of kinds of faith. Everyone, saved and unsaved alike, has a natural, human faith. The above Scripture, however, is talking about a supernatural faith — a faith that believes with the heart rather than believing what our physical senses may tell us. Faith, in other words, is grasping the unrealities of hope and bringing them into the realm of reality. And faith grows out of the Word of God.

Our text describes faith as "the

evidence of things not seen." For

example, you hope for finances to meet

the obligations you have to pay. Faith

gives the assurance that you will have

the money when you need it. You hope for physical strength to do the work that you must do. Faith says, "The

Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" (Ps. 27:11.

Faith will say about itself everything that the Word says, for faith in God

is simply faith in His Word.

I learned an important lesson in faith shortly after I was raised up from the bed of sickness many years ago. 1 needed work, and since this was during the Depression, work was not easy to find. I was able to get a job in a nursery helping pull up peach trees. With another boy on the other side of the tree, together we would pull up these two-year-old trees to fill orders that had come in. This was really hard work — especially since I had been bedfast for 16 months and at this time had been up only a few months.

Each day the number of workers would be fewer and fewer, and each day someone would say to me. "Well, I didn't think you'd make it today.

You know, two or three quit

yester-day."

"If it weren't for the Lord I wouldn't be here," I would answer. "You see, His strength is my strength. The Bible says, 'The Lord is the

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strength of my life...' My life consists

of the physical as well as the spiritual, and the Lord is the strength of my life."

If I had gone according to my feel-ings, I wouldn't have gotten out of bed. I acted on the Word because I knew what faith was. I never received any strength until I started to work.

Many people want to receive and then believe they've got it. It doesn't work that way, though. You have to believe first, and then you will receive.

So I would pull myself out of bed each morning and go to work, gaining strength as I went along, trusting in God's Word. Although I was the weakest and skinniest one among that group of men, I was the last one to stay on the job.

We may say we know God's Word is good, but we will never really know until we have acted on it and have reaped its results. Faith is giving substance to things hoped for.

I went to work. I acted on God's Word. I hoped for physical strength to do the work I knew must be done, and as I acted on God's Word, my faith gave substance to that which I hoped for. Hope says, "I'll have it

sometime." Faith says, "I have it now."

Head Faith vs. Heart

Faith

John Wesley once said that the devil has given the Church a substi-tute for faith; one that looks and sounds so much like faith that few people can tell the difference. This

sub-stitute he called "mental assent."

Many people read God's Word and agree that it is true, but they are agree-ing only with their minds. And that is not what gets the job done. It is heart faith that receives from God.

MARK 11:23,24

23For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

24Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

How can we tell whether we have this heart faith or we are just mentally agreeing? Mental assent says, "I know God's Word is true. I know God has promised healing, but for some reason I can't get it; I can't understand it." However, real faith in God's Word says, "If God's Word says it's so, then it's so. It is mine. I have it now. I have it even though I can't see it."

I've heard people say, "But the thing I have been praying about hasn't come to pass yet." If you already had it, you wouldn't have to believe it, for then you would know it. You have to take that step of believing in order to come to the place of knowing. Too many people want to know it from the standpoint of its coming to pass, and then believe it. We must believe it because God's Word says it is ours.

Then it materializes.

Notice from Mark 11:24 that the receiving comes after the believing:

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"What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." Jesus was

simply saying, "You've got to believe you have it before you can receive it." I never have been able to receive physical healing for myself without first believing I have it. Every symp-tom in my body cries out, "You don't have it." I simply stand firm on what God's Word says about my healing and continue to claim that I am healed. Results are then forthcoming. But if I were to sit around, groan and sigh, gripe, and complain, waiting until every symptom was gone and my feel-ings corresponded with my faith before I believed, I never would get very far, because "faith is . . . the

evidence of things not seen. "

Thomas' Faith vs.

Abraham's Faith

Too many Christians have a "Thomas faith" when they should have an "Abraham faith." Thomas said, "I'll not believe until I can see Him," whereas "Abraham staggered not at the promise of God ... but was strong in faith."

JOHN 20:24-29

24But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.

25The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.

26And after eight days again his disciples

were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.

27Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither

thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.

28And Thomas answered and said unto

him, My Lord and my God.

29Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

Why did Thomas find it hard to believe Jesus was alive? Thomas knew of the nails that pierced Jesus' hands and the spear that was thrust into His side. His physical senses told him Jesus was dead. Thomas was using head knowledge, rather than heart faith.

Compare now the faith of Abra-ham:

ROMANS 4:17-21

17(As it is written, I have made thee [Abraham] a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. 18Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.

19And being not weak in faith, he con sidered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb: 20He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;

21And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.

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Notice the difference in Thomas' faith and Abraham's faith. Thomas had only a natural, human faith which said, "I'm not going to believe unless I can see and feel." Abraham, however, believed God's Word, considering not his own body — his own natural senses. If Abraham didn't consider physical knowledge or feelings, what did he consider? (The Word of God.)

Years ago when I was healed of heart trouble, I was struggling along some of these faith lines that many people do. Alarming heart symptoms would return.

While praying and standing on the promises of God, even while suffering severe pain, the Lord reminded me of Abraham, who "considered not his

own body." He showed me I should

not consider my body, but rather I should consider His Word, As I did this, repeating to myself some of God's promises in the Scriptures regarding healing, such as, "Himself took our

infirmities, and bare our sicknesses, "

every symptom would leave. Too many times we focus our attention on the wrong thing. We consider our physical body and the symptoms rather than looking to God's Word.

In one church I visited, a certain woman regularly ended her testimony with, "You pray for me. I believe I've got cancer." No doubt if she keeps believing it, she will get it. (Jesus said,

"According to your faith be it unto you.1_{') Another person requested}

prayer, saying, "Please pray for me. I

believe I'm taking a cold." If that is the way you believe, it won't do any good for me to pray, because

"According to your faith be it unto you

" (Matt. 9:29). We need to walk by faith, not by sight.

Some have misunderstood this type of teaching, thinking I tell people to deny all symptoms and go on as if they weren't even there. They think I am teaching Christian Science. However, this is not Christian Science; this is Christian sense. We do not deny pains and other symptoms, for they are very real. Instead, we look beyond them to God's promises.

Real faith in the Word says, "If God says it is so, it is so. If He says,

'By whose stripes ye were healed,' I

am healed. If He says, 'My God shall

supply all your need,' He does. If He

says, 'The Lord is the strength of my

life,' He is." In other words, real faith

simply says about one's self what the Word says.

Real faith is built on the Word. We should meditate on the Word, dig deeply into it, and feed upon it. Then the Word becomes a part of us, just as natural food becomes a part of our physical body when we eat. What natural food is to the physical man, the Word of God is to the spiritual man. The Word builds confidence and assurance into us. Memory Text:

'WOK; faith is the substance of things

hoped for, the evidence of things not

seen" (Heb. 11:1).

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Lesson 3

Faith vs. Hope

Bible Texts: 1 Corinthians 13:13; Ephesians 2:8,9; Romans 10:9,10,13 Central Truth: It takes a positive faith — a now faith — to get

positive results. When Paul, writing to the Corin-thians, said, "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity" (1 Cor. 13:13), he was not inferring that hope and faith are not important.

Each has its place, and one cannot be substituted for another. We cannot substitute love for hope. Neither can we substitute hope for faith. Yet so many people try to receive things from God on the basis of hope rather than faith.

Faith Is Now

Hope looks to the future. It is

always future tense. Faith is now. Faith says, "I'll receive the answer right now. I have it now." It is not hoping that gets the job done; it is believing.

Someone said, "Well, I believe I will receive my healing — sometime." That's not faith, that's hope, because it is looking to some indefinite, future time. Faith says, "I receive my heal-ing — now!"

In one modern translation of the New Testament, the familiar verse in Hebrews 11:1 reads, "Faith is giving substance . . . to things hoped for."

If you need healing, you don't

it in the future; you want it right now, especially if you're in pain. If you are seeking the baptism of the Holy Spirit, you want to receive now, not at some indefinite future time. If you need salvation, you cannot put it off to the future, for that may be too late.

I have talked to people who told me they hoped to be saved. Some of them are now dead. They left the world unsaved, because salvation that is based on hope never comes to fruition. EPHESIANS 2:8,9

8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

9Not of works, lest any man should boast.

ROMANS 10:9,10,13

9That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confes sion is made unto salvation ...

13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

The above verses point man to the plan of salvation. We see that it is by faith — not hope — that we are saved. Jesus promised He will not cast any out who come to Him, but will save all

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who "call upon the name of the Lord." Therefore, we don't need to hope that He will save us. He said He would.

How Do We Get Faith?

Faith, we know, grows out of the Word of God. "So then faith cometh

by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom. 10:17). Another

transla-tion of this verse reads, "Faith is the warranty deed, that the thing for which you have fondly hoped is at last yours."

Faith is "the evidence of things not

seen," as we read in Hebrews 11:1. To

illustrate, you might hope for finances to meet a certain obligation, but faith gives you the assurance that you will have the money when you need it. You might hope for physical strength to do a job you must do, but faith says,

"The Lord is the strength of my life" (Ps. 27:1). In other words, faith

says the same thing the Word of God says.

Unbelief is really taking sides against God's Word. There are those who talk unbelief and take sides

against the Word of God, and then

wonder why God's Word doesn't work for them. If we want God's Word to

work for us, we must agree with it.

Many times when I ask people who come for prayer in my meetings if they believe they will be healed, they answer, "Well, I sure hope I will." I tell them they won't, because we receive from God by faith, not hope. Still others answer, "Well, I want to." But I tell them, "You might want a new Cadillac, but that doesn't mean you'll get one. You see, just wanting

to won't get the job done."

It's not hoping or wanting: It's faith that gets the job done. You will not receive from God because you hope. Nowhere does the Bible say that when we pray, we shall receive what we hope for. God's Word does say, however, "... What things soever ye

desire, when ye pray, BELIEVE that ye receive them, and ye shall have them" (Mark 11:24). Jesus also said, "And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, BELIEVING, ye shall receive" (Matt. 21:22). Not hoping, but

believing.

Notice in the definition of faith in Hebrews 11:1 ("Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen"), the verb "is" is in the present tense.

Remember, if it's not now, it's not faith. Faith is present tense; hope is future tense. Even though you might say you believe, if you are putting it into the future, you are not believing; you're hoping. In order for it to work, it must be in the correct tense — the present tense. Some people always are believing that God is going to do something for them, but faith believes that He has done, and is doing.

Some years ago while I was preaching in Oklahoma, a woman who hadn't taken a step in four years was brought to the service for prayer. She was in her seventies, and the doctors had said she never would walk again. At the close of the service when we were ready to have prayer for the sick, her friends brought her forward and sat her down on the altar.

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I knelt in front of her, laid my hands on her, and prayed. Then I said, "Now arise and walk in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ."

She did her best to get up, but all the time she was crying and praying, "0 dear Jesus, please heal me. Please let me walk. Oh, please ... please!" She continued in this vein for some time until finally I was able to quiet her enough to talk to her. I asked her, "Sister, did you know that you are healed?"

Astonished, she looked up at me and said, "Oh, am I?"

"Yes," I said, "you are healed, and I will prove it to you from the Bible." Then I opened my Bible to First Peter 2:24, handed it to her, and asked her to read the verse aloud.

She read, "Who his own self bare

our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed." I asked her to repeat

the last phrase, and she read, "... by

whose stripes ye were healed."

Then I asked her the question, "Is 'were' past tense, future tense, or present tense?"

"It is past tense," she answered. "If you were healed by Jesus' stripes, then you are healed now, aren't you?" I said. A smile spread across her face and her eyes lit up with new understanding. Then I told her, "Just lift your hands and look up to Him. Begin to praise Him because you are healed, present tense. Because you

are healed — not going to be — you are... now."

With childlike faith she looked up and said, "Dear Lord Jesus, I'm so glad I'm healed." She hadn't walked a step and therefore had no physical evidence of healing whatever. Yet she said, "I'm so glad I'm healed."

I turned to her and said, "Now, my sister, arise and walk in Jesus' Name." Immediately she jumped off that altar like a 16 year old, and walked, leaped, ran, and praised God.

You see, we had to help her get it in the right tense — because faith is present tense. As long as we are strug-gling to receive, hoping to see the answer sometime, it won't work. That is just hope. Faith says, "It's mine. I have it now."

Hope, of course, used properly is most blessed and beautiful. We have a blessed hope in the soon return of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Resurrection of the righteous dead, the Rapture of the living saints, the hope of heaven, and the hope of seeing our loved ones and friends. We thank God for that hope. But this is all future tense.

Jesus is coming, whether we believe it or not. He is coming because the Word says so. The Resurrection will take place whether we have faith or not. The dead in Christ will rise to meet Him in the air, whether we believe or not. Our faith, or lack of faith, will not affect these events. Jesus is coming back again, because the Word says He will. This is the blessed hope all Christians look forward to.

But it is faith, not hope, that can change the impossible to the possible.

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It is faith, not hope, that brings heal-ing and victory.

Hope is a good waiter, but a poor receiver. Too many times I've heard people say, "I'm hoping and praying," or "All we can do now is hope and pray." If that is all you are doing, you're defeated. It takes a positive

faith — a now faith — to get positive results.

Memory Text:

"And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is chanty" (1 Cor. 13:13).

THE LESSON IN ACTION: "But be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers o n l y . . . " (James 1:22).

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Lesson 4

Faith Sees the Answer

Bible Texts: Proverbs 4:20-22; Hebrews 13:5,6; 4:14; Mark 11:23 Central Truth: By continually looking at the Word, faith sees the answer.

In our past lessons, we have learned that faith is not something we have as much as it is something we do. We have seen that faith is not hoping that we will see the answer in the future; faith is

believing that we have the answer now.

The eyes of faith see the answer as having already happened.

PROVERBS 4:20-22

20My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.

21Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. 22For they [my words] are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.

Notice that this Scripture says, "Let

them [my words] not depart from thine eyes . . . " Many people fail because they

see themselves as failing. If they are sick, they think of themselves as dying.

God's Word says, "Himself [Jesus]

took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses" (Matt. 8:17). If that Word

does not depart from before your eyes, you are bound to see yourself without sickness and without disease. You will see yourself as well.

If, however, you do not see yourself as without sickness, then that Word has departed from before your eyes. And even though God wants to make health a reality in your life, He cannot,

because you are not acting on His Word.

Notice also the 22nd verse, "For they [my words] are life unto those that find

them, and health to all their flesh." The

Hebrew word translated "health" here is also the word for medicine. In other words, "My words are medicine to all their flesh."

The first two verses of this passage tell us the directions for taking this medicine. What are these directions? ("Attend to," or study God's Word, and "keep them in the midst of thine heart," or obey this Word.)

And what is God's medicine? "My words are life unto those that find them, and medicine to all their flesh." But the medicine has to be taken according to directions in order to work. And one of the directions is, "Let

them [my words] not depart from thine eyes." Keep looking at what the Word

says.

Too many people pray and pray, but they never see themselves with the answer. They just see everything getting worse. They keep looking at the wrong thing — at the symptoms, at conditions, at themselves — and so they walk in unbelief and destroy the effects of their praying.

Get your mind on the answer. See yourself as having received.

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Con-stantly affirm, even in the face of con-tradictory evidence, that God has heard your prayer because the Word says so. That's when you'll get results.

You have to believe you've got it before you can receive it. "What things

soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them" (Mark 11:24). The believing

comes before the receiving.

There are those who say, "I'm not going to believe anything I can't see." But in the natural we believe a lot of things we can't see. The whole world became alarmed when atomic bombs were being exploded, releasing radio-active material into the atmosphere. You can't see it or feel it, but it is a destructive power nevertheless.

Faith Contradicts

Circumstances

HEBREWS 13:5,6

5... for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

6So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

Are we boldly saying that the Lord is our Helper? That is what we should be saying.

"Well, you all pray for me, I feel as if the Lord has forsaken me," cried one poor sister. "I don't know if I can make it or not. I hope I can. Pray for me that I'll hold out faithful to the end." This is a familiar request in prayer and testimony meetings. But that is not what God told us to say!

Too many people are boldly saying,

"I'm whipped, I'm defeated. The devil's got me bound." But nowhere in the Bible do we find where God said to boldly say that.

God said, "/ will never leave thee,

nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper."

Let's quit saying the wrong thing and start saying the right thing. Say the Lord is your Helper. Say that the Lord is your Healer. Say that the Lord took your infirmities and bore your sicknesses. Keep talking about the right thing. Keep believing the right thing.

Wrong thinking, wrong believing, and wrong talking will defeat you. The devil can't defeat you, because Jesus already has defeated the devil for you. Satan doesn't defeat you; you defeat yourself. Or if he does, you permit him to do so. It is a consent of ignorance.

God has given us His Word to direct us so our believing will be right. If our thinking is right and our believ-ing is right, our talkbeliev-ing will be right. "The Lord is my helper." "The Lord is my strength."

Faith 'Says' the Answer

Real faith in the Word says that if God says it is so, it's so. If He says

"... by whose stripes ye were healed"

(1 Peter 2:24), we are healed. If He says, "My God shall supply all your

need according to his riches in glory by Christ, Jesus" (Phil. 4:19), He does

it. If the Word says, "... the Lord is

the strength of my life" (Ps. 27:1), He

is. 14

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In other words, real faith in God simply says about one's self what the Word says. We have what the Word says we have. We are what the Word says we are. If God says we are strong, we are. If He says we are healed, we are. If He says He cares for me, He does.

HEBREWS 4:14

14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.

Because Jesus is our High Priest and sits at the right hand of God in heaven, making intercession for us, we can have the answers to our petitions now. Looking up the Greek word translated "profession," I learned that it should read, "Let us hold fast to saying the same things."

Jesus is in heaven, representing us at the throne of God. He is saying, "I took their place, I died for them as their Substitute." Jesus didn't die for Himself. He didn't need to redeem Himself, because He wasn't lost. He died for us. He became our Substitute. He took our sins. He bore our

sick-nesses and carried our diseases. He died for us, arose from the dead for us, and ascended on high for us. He is up there now saying, "I did that for them," and we are to hold fast to say-ing the same thsay-ings down here.

MARK 11:23

23 ... whosoever shall say unto this moun-tain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have what-soever he saith.

It isn't just a matter of faith going out of your heart toward God without your saying anything. That won't work. Nowhere in the Bible do we read that we should do that.

Faith kept only in your heart never will bring healing to your body, the infilling of the Holy Spirit, or an answer to prayer. But faith in your heart released through your lips will

bring results.

Memory Text:

"Let them [my words] not depart from

thine eyes . . . " (Prov. 4:21).

THE LESSON IN ACTION: "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only . . . " (James 1:22).

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Lesson 5

Faith in Action (Part 1)

Bible Texts: Joshua 6:2-5,16,20; Luke 5:18-20,24,25

Central Truth: Great miracles are wrought by those who act upon

God's Word. In both the Old and New Testa-ments we see examples of how God's people, by putting their faith into action, were able to accomplish mighty deeds. Great miracles were wrought by humble men who acted upon God's Word in simple believing faith.

Faith in Action in the

Old Testament

JOSHUA 6:2-5,16,20

2And the Lord said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour. 3And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days. 4And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams' horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets.

5And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him ...

16 And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the Lord hath given you the city ... 20 So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass,

when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.

In verse two we read that God told Joshua He had given the city of Jericho "into thine hand." This didn't mean, however, that Joshua and the children of Israel could sit back and relax while the city automatically became theirs. They had to do some-thing.

God gave them explicit instruc-tions how to go about possessing the land He already had given them, but they had to believe that Word and

act upon it. Their acting upon the

Word was their faith in action. They were to march around the walls of the city once a day for six days. On the seventh day, they were to march around the city seven times. Then, when the musical instruments sounded, they were to shout.

Notice that they shouted while the

walls were still up! Anybody can shout

when the walls are down — it doesn't take any faith to do that. But they

acted their faith. They "shouted with

a great shout," and the walls fell down!

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Too many people are sitting back waiting for something to come to them. They are more or less inert, with a passive faith instead of an active faith, waiting for something to happen.

I met a man like this years ago in Colorado. He had no job. He had a wife and five children, and he was just waiting for something to turn up. But the only thing that turned up was more bills. He needed to get busy. We all have certain obligations. We can't just stay at home and expect some-thing to come to us. But if we pray, believe, and then act, something will happen.

Faith in Action in the

New Testament

LUKE 5:18-20,24,25

18And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him.

19And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus. 20And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee 2 4 . . . I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house. 25And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.

While Jesus was in a house teaching, some men brought their friend to Him to be healed. The man

had palsy and was bedfast. The crowd was so large that these men could not get to Jesus. But rather than give up, they determined to find some way to get their friend to Him. They climbed onto the roof and through an opening in the tiling they lowered the bedfast man into the room before the Lord.

By whose faith was this miracle brought about: the man on the cot, or the friends who brought him to the Lord? The Scripture says, "And when

he saw THEIR faith ..." The word

"their" is plural. It was the faith of all of them. It would have been easy for the man's friends, upon seeing the great throng surrounding Jesus, to have shrugged their shoulders, given up, and gone back home, saying, "Well, at least we tried. We did the best we could." But they didn't give up that easily. They found a way to get their friend to Jesus.

The sick man demonstrated great faith, too, because how many invalids would allow themselves to be carried up on a rooftop? Furthermore, when Jesus told him to rise and walk, he wasn't any better. He lay there just as helpless as ever. He could have said, "Rise and walk? Why, didn't you see these men carry me in here? I can't possibly get up. You'll have to heal me first." But, no, when Jesus told him to rise, he began to move, and when he did, healing was the result. If he had refused to act on the word of the Master, he would not have received healing. But because he

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Faith in Action in the

Twentieth Century

In the early days of the Pentecostal movement, a woman evangelist was ministering to four people in wheel-chairs. In a very quiet voice she said, "Rise and walk in Jesus' Name." Three of these people got up and walked. The fourth said, "I can't walk."

"The others couldn't walk either," the evangelist said, "but they did."

"I know they did," the crippled woman answered, "but I can't. You see, I haven't walked in years." And the evangelist had to walk away and leave her sitting there. The others acted their faith and reaped the results.

In one church where I was min-istering, there was a man who had been burned over the lower part of his body, leaving him unable to walk. He just scooted his feet along on the floor. During the healing service one eve-ning, this man came forward for prayer. The Lord had told me what to do, and when I came to him I asked him, "Can you run?"

Astonished at such a question, he said, "Oh, no, I can't even walk, much less run."

Then I said, "The Lord has told me to tell you to run." The man didn't even give it a second thought. He just turned and started scooting up the aisle as fast as he could. He scooted

around the church in this manner three

or four times, and by the time he got back to the front, he was walking normally. He was perfectly healed! He had acted his faith.

In the service the next night we saw another miracle as the result of the first. Two elderly gentlemen responded to the invitation — some-thing which is not often seen.

I learned later that these men were brothers, ages 72 and 74, who lived next door to the man who had been healed the night before. When they saw their crippled neighbor out work-ing in his yard the next day, they thought he had crawled out there. But then they saw him get up, straight and well, and walk around the house. They hurried over to find out what had hap-pened. He told them about his healing and what the Lord had done for him. As a result, both men came to the service that night and gave their hearts to the Lord.

One of the best definitions of faith is: // you believe, you will act. If you believe God's Word, you will act as if it is true. "Now faith is the substance

of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Heb. 11:1). Faith is

giving substance to the thing hoped for.

Memory Text:

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not

seen" (Heb. 11:1).

THE LESSON IN ACTION: "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only . . . " (James 1:22).

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Lesson 6

Faith in Action (Part 2)

Bible Texts: Acts 19:1-6; 1 Corinthians 14:14

Central Truth: The formula of faith in action can apply to receiving

the baptism of the Holy Spirit just as it does to receiving any of God's gifts.

In the previous lesson we talked about how faith is an action; it puts God's Word into practice. Many miracles of healing have come about as people have acted on their faith, stepped out on God's promises, and received from God.

The same thing applies to receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit. In order to receive this mighty endue-ment of God's power, we also must step out in faith and lay claim to the promises of the Father.

The Gift of the Holy

Spirit: Already Given

ACTS 19:1-6

1And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples.

2He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. 3And he said unto them. Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism.

4Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto

the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.

5When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.

As we study the Book of Acts, we notice that after the Day of Pentecost, the disciples always asked believers the question, "Have you received the Holy Ghost?" They didn't say, "Has God given you the Holy Ghost?" God is not going to give you the Holy Ghost. As far as He is concerned, He already has. It is up to you to receive. It is something you do yourself.

Some say, "I just wish it were as easy to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit as you make it sound."

But just how difficult is it to receive a gift? If a man were to ask me for a book which I held. I would hand it to him. I would be giving him a gift of the book. But suppose he were then to start crying and begging, "Please, oh, please. Brother Hagin. Please give it to me!" Of course, people would think he was crazy. They would wonder why he didn't just reach out and take it.

Spiritual things are just as real as material things. God offers us the gift of the Holy Spirit. We don't have to

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cry and beg for it. God says, "Here is the gift of the Holy Spirit. If you are born again, you can receive now. You don't have to wait; you're ready now to receive the Holy Spirit!" "So then

faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom. 10:17). We

have His promise in the Word. Faith is acting on the Word.

During a meeting which I was con-ducting in a town in Texas, a woman came forward for prayer to receive the Holy Spirit. I laid hands on her and prayed, the Holy Spirit came upon her, but she wouldn't respond. I laid hands on her a second time and prayed, but again she wouldn't respond. I opened my Bible to Acts 2:4 and asked her to read that verse of Scripture aloud. She read, "And they were all filled with the

Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."

"Who does the Scripture say did the speaking in tongues?" I asked.

"It says the Holy Spirit did," she answered.

I told her to read it again. Finally, after reading it four times, she saw what she had missed before. Aston-ished, she looked at me and said, "Why, they did the speaking in tongues! I had always thought that the Holy Spirit did the speaking."

Then I said, "Let's read several other Scriptures, too," and I pointed her to Acts 10:44-46: "While Peter

yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as

came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God."

We then turned to Acts 19:6, "And

when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied."

"Now I want to ask you a ques-tion," I said. "When I laid hands on you earlier, did the Holy Spirit come upon you? Did you feel the power of God upon you?"

"Absolutely," she said.

"Did your tongue want to say something that wasn't English?" I asked.

"Why," she said, "it was all I could do to keep from it."

"You're not supposed to keep from it," I said. "You're supposed to cooperate with it." (Some people seem to think that they are supposed to fight against that urge as long as they can and finally be overpowered by the Spirit. When the Holy Spirit gives you utterance, you must have faith to act.)

Some time ago I was talking to a fellow who had been tarrying for some 15 years. He said, "You can't tell me one thing about tarrying. I know all about seeking God." He knew all about seeking but nothing about

receiving. And there is a great deal of

difference between the two.

A minister friend of mine told me about a man who said to him, "I've been seeking the Holy Spirit for 19 years."

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The minister replied, "You haven't done any such thing, Jesus said, 'Seek,

and ye shall find' (Matt. 7:7). If you

had been seeking, you would have found. All you've been doing is just hanging around the altar." It seems that this is all that many are doing — just hanging around the altar. It's time to quit hanging around and start acting on the Word of God, because faith is acting.

The Gift of the Holy

Spirit: A Spiritual

Experience

1 CORINTHIANS 14:14 14 For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.

Your body is the temple or house of your own spirit. When you become born again, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in your spirit. Therefore, your body then becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit is an experience subsequent to the New Birth. Receiving this baptism of the Holy Spirit is a spiritual experience, not a mental or a physical experience.

You cannot contact God with your mind. God is not a mind. Numbers 23:19 says, "God is not a man ..." This means God is not a physical being. He is a spirit.

Notice that He is not "spirit," but He is "a spirit." The word "spirit" to many people means an influence or an atmosphere. But God is not spirit. Jesus said, "God is a Spirit..." (John

4:24). He is a divine personality. We cannot contact God with our minds; we cannot contact Him with our bodies. We contact God with our spirits, because He is a spirit.

This is where many people have difficulty in trying to receive the Holy Spirit. They try to receive the Holy Spirit mentally or physically. They want a physical experience, but it is a

spiritual experience. The only physical

part of it is the actual speaking in tongues. He will give you utterance, but that utterance comes out of your spirit, and you speak the words.

Paul said, "For if I pray in an

unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful"

(1 Cor. 14:14). The Amplified Bible reads, "My spirit [by the Holy Spirit within me] prays." In other words, it is the Holy Spirit within you who gives you the ability to speak with other tongues.

Jesus said, "And I will pray the

Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever" (John 14:16). He comes in to

live and dwell in you, and you must learn to respond to Him. He will give you the utterance. Many people fail here because they rely on their natural senses — what they can see, hear, or feel. They will not believe they have the Holy Spirit until they speak with tongues. However, you believe and receive the Holy Spirit first; then you speak with tongues as a result of having received.

"And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost..." (Acts 2:4). Notice this

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Scripture says they were filled. Then, after they were filled, they began to speak with other tongues. This is the very thing that many people stumble over. They want to talk in tongues

first and then believe that they have

the Holy Spirit. But you have to believe first.

In order to receive the gift of the

Holy Spirit, just as to receive anything from God, you have to step out in faith, putting your faith to work. Then you will have faith in action.

Memory Text:

"... The Holy Ghost came on them;

and they spake with tongues, and prophesied" (Acts 19:6).

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Lesson 7

Faith vs. Feelings

Bible Texts: John 20:24-29; 2 Corinthians 5:17

Central Truth: A formula for faith is: (1) Find a promise in God's

Word for whatever you are seeking. (2) Believe God's Word. (3) Do not consider contradictory circumstances. (4) Praise God for the answer. The beloved man of faith Smith

Wigglesworth once said, "I can't understand God by feelings. I can't understand the Lord Jesus Christ by feelings. I can only understand God the Father and Jesus Christ by what the Word says about them. God is everything the Word says He is. We need to get acquainted with Him through the Word."

Too many people try to get acquainted with God through their feelings. When they feel good, they think God has heard their prayers. When they don't feel particularly good, they think He has not heard them. Their faith is based on their feel-ings, whereas it should be based on God's Word.

A 'Thomas' Faith

JOHN 20:24-29

24But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.

25The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.

26And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. 27Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. 28And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.

29Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

Thomas was one who based his faith upon his feelings. He said he would not believe unless he could see with his own eyes the prints of the nails in Jesus' hands, and touch these nailprints with his own hands. He relied on what he could see and touch, not on what God had to say.

We have many "Thomas Christians" today — those who believe only what they can feel, see, hear, or touch. Real faith in God is based upon the Word of God. Real faith says, "If God says it is true, it is." Believing God is believing His Word. If God's Word says He hears me, I know He hears me, because His Word cannot lie.

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we are just using natural human faith, and we cannot get spiritual results with natural human faith. We have to use scriptural faith — Bible faith — believing in God's Word.

Once I prayed for a woman who had been through many healing lines, but she never had received her healing. After I prayed, she immediately said, "I haven't got it yet. Pray again." I prayed again, and when I was finished, she said the same thing.

After praying a third time with seemingly no results I asked her, "When are you going to start believing you are healed?"

"Well," she said, "when I get healed."

"What in the world would you want to believe it for, then? It seems to me that you would know it then," 1 told her.

Anyone can believe what he can feel, hear, or see. We live and operate in the physical realm most of the time, and obviously we have to walk by sight then. But when it comes to Bible things — to spiritual things — we don't walk by sight; we walk by faith.

Healing Is Spiritual

God's healing is spiritual healing. If medical science heals, it heals through the physical. Christian Science heals through the mind. But when God heals, He heals through the

spirit

2 CORINTHIANS 5:17

17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is

a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Spiritual healing, or divine healing, is received from God in the same way that the New Birth, which is a rebirth of the spirit, is received.

When you are born again, it is not your body that is born again, because you still have the same body you always had. When Paul said,

"There-fore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature...," he was not talking about

man's body being made new. The New Birth doesn't change the physical in any way. After you are saved, the man on the inside is to dominate the physical, of course, but it is this inner man who is born again.

The New Birth is the rebirth of the human spirit. Jesus said, "That which

is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit"

(John 3:6). We cannot tell immediately just what has happened on the inside of a person, because it takes place in the human spirit. But if a person walks in the light of what he has, in the process of time it will become obvious.

We often were mistaken when we saw people come to the altar, pray, cry, jump up, and hug everyone, acting so happy. Then they were never seen again. We really thought they had received something marvelous from God, but it was just an emotional experience, not the New Birth.

At other times we saw people come to the altar for salvation who were not emotional at all. We wondered if they had received anything from the Lord. We thought they were not at the altar

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long enough for anything. Yet many of these became outstanding Chris-tians during their lifetimes. (This is another example of faith based on physical senses.)

I certainly believe in feeling, but I put it last. God's Word comes first, faith in God's Word second, and feel-ing last. Too many people turn it around and put feeling first, faith in their feelings second, and the Word of God last. These people never will make a success of anything.

Walking in the natural, we do have to go by our physical senses. (For example, if we are crossing a street and our eyes tell us cars are coming, we must wait until they pass.) But too many people try to believe in God with that physical, natural faith, and if their physical senses tell them it's not so, they believe it's not so. Our physical senses have nothing to do with the Bible. God's Word is true, regardless

of our feelings or the circumstances:

"For ever, 0 Lord, thy word is settled in heaven" (Ps. 119:89).

Formula for Faith

Here is a formula for faith that you

can make work for you:

First, have God's Word for

what-ever you may be seeking; second, believe God's Word; third, refuse to consider the contradictory circum-stances, or what your physical senses may tell you about it; and, fourth, give praise to God for the answer.

Follow these four steps, and you always will get results. These are four certain steps to deliverance, healing, answered prayer, or whatever you may be seeking from the Lord.

Memory Text:

"Forever, 0Lord, thy word is settled in heaven" (Ps. 119:89).

THE LESSON IN ACTION: "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers o n l y . . . " (James 1:22),

Kenneth E Hagin New Thresholds of Faith

New

Thresholds

of Faith

Contents

Lesson 1

How Do We Get Faith?

Faith for Salvation

Faith for Healing

Faith in Action

What Is Faith?

Head Faith vs. Heart

Faith

Thomas' Faith vs.

Abraham's Faith

Lesson 3

Faith vs. Hope

Faith Is Now

How Do We Get Faith?

Lesson 4

Faith Sees the Answer

Faith Contradicts

Circumstances

Faith 'Says' the Answer

Lesson 5

Faith in Action (Part 1)

Faith in Action in the

Old Testament

Faith in Action in the

New Testament

Faith in Action in the

Twentieth Century

Lesson 6

Faith in Action (Part 2)

The Gift of the Holy

Spirit: Already Given

The Gift of the Holy

Spirit: A Spiritual

Experience

Lesson 7

Faith vs. Feelings

A 'Thomas' Faith

Healing Is Spiritual

Formula for Faith